NEW DELHI — In a fiery 100-minute address to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Rahul Gandhi of “peaked arrogance” and an “insult to the Sikh community” after the Leader of the Opposition labeled a sitting Union Minister a “traitor” during a confrontation outside Parliament.
The Makar Dwar Encounter
The friction ignited Wednesday morning when Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu walked past a group of protesting Congress MPs. According to video footage, Gandhi pointed at Bittu and said, “Here is a traitor walking right by… look at his face.” Gandhi then extended his hand, saying, “Hello brother, my traitor friend. Don’t worry, you will come back.” Bittu, whose grandfather Beant Singh was assassinated while fighting terrorism in Punjab, refused the gesture, branding Gandhi an “enemy of the state” (Desh ke dushman).
“Insult to the Gurus”
Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, PM Modi turned the personal spat into a national issue of identity. “He did not call anyone else who left the Congress a ‘traitor.’ He called the MP a traitor because he is a Sikh,” Modi charged. “How can the country tolerate a citizen being called a traitor? This is an insult to the Sikhs, an insult to the Gurus.”
The Prime Minister further contrasted his government’s “inclusive growth” with what he described as the Congress’s history of “vote-bank politics” and historical atrocities against Sikhs, referencing the 1984 riots.
Political Fallout
The exchange has stalled the Budget Session’s momentum, with BJP leaders across the country demanding an apology. Meanwhile, Congress supporters argue the term was a political critique of “defection” rather than a communal slur.
As Parliament remains polarized, the Prime Minister’s remarks signal a strategy to frame the Opposition’s rhetoric as fundamentally “anti-national” and divisive ahead of the remaining 2026 state elections.
